60 Minutes: Australia's stance on Down Syndrome0:59

Does Australia really want to see the end of Down Syndrome? Courtesy: Channel 9 / 60 Minutes

August 11th 2017

2 years ago

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Little Lucas Warren’s contagious smile won over executives at Gerber baby food who have made him their "spokesbaby" this year. Picture: Gerber via APSource:AP

AN 18-month-old boy with Down syndrome has been named by baby food maker Gerber as its “Spokesbaby” for 2018, an action hailed by advocates for people with the genetic condition.

Lucas Warren, of Georgia in the US, who sported a blue button-down and mini bow tie in his smiley snap, won Gerber’s annual photo contest thanks to his “winning smile and joyful expression,” Gerber Chief Executive Bill Partyka said in a statement.

Gerber, a US food products company in New York, has held the photo contest since 2010, although parents have been sending photos of their infants to the company throughout its 90-year history.

Little Lucas Warren’s contagious smile won over executives at Gerber baby food who have made him their "spokesbaby" this year. Picture: Gerber via APSource:AP

Gerber was bought in 2007 by Swiss food and beverage company Nestle.

The Warren family will receive $US50,000 ($70,000) from Gerber, and Lucas will take “a front seat” on the company’s social media channels.

“I’m very excited to see how the world reacts,” mother Cortney Warren said on the Today show as she held her son.

The Warrens entered the Gerber baby photo contest on a whim, they said, and were shocked when they found out their boy had been chosen from more than 140,000 babies to be the official 2018 Gerber spokesbaby.

“He’s always been such a good baby. I’ve never met anyone who’s come into contact with Lucas and not smiled,” Cortney said.